Rankings for the 2011-12 Country League

Contactless Intelligence shortlisted the top 11 countries that made the contactless headlines during 2011.

Based on discussions with industry insiders as well as a review of press releases and blogs last year, it awarded each one points for the following categories (for 2011 only):

Number of POS terminals deployed

Type of contactless devices deployed

Number of contactless devices deployed

Number of new applications announced

Number of MNO’s active in contactless

Finally, it applied a weighting based on the level of backing given to contactless in 2011. This was designed to reward those countries that had either made a strong nationwide business-led push towards rolling out contactless (multiplying the total score from the previous five categories by 1.5) or a strong government/public sector-led drive towards adoption of the technology (multiplying the total score from the previous five categories by 2).

All scores were based on activities in 2011 and did not take into account the contactless infrastructure already in place prior to 1st January, 2011.

Before the weighting was applied for country-level commitment to contactless, the top five countries were China, the US, Japan, South Korea and Poland. The top four were no surprise; as this is a numbers game, the sheer size of China and the US always ensures that anything they do involves big numbers, while Japan and South Korea have a long history of embracing technological innovation, particularly in the world of contactless. But Poland’s top five ranking was an interesting development and revealed the strong advances it made in 2011 from a very low base.

These are the first scores after the 5 basic criteria were applied;

CHINA 69

USA 56

JAPAN 55

SOUTH KOREA 51

POLAND 48

UNITED KINGDOM 47

FRANCE 47

SINGAPORE 44

TURKEY 36

SPAIN 33

RUSSIA 24

Once the weighting was included, there was a marked change in the results with France, the UK, the US, Japan and South Korea claiming the top five spots. France and the UK came top thanks to spirited efforts by both the public and the private sectors that have seen these countries developing their contactless infrastructure outside their capitals.

FRANCE 94

UNITED KINGDOM 94

USA 84

JAPAN 83

SOUTH KOREA 77

POLAND 72

CHINA 69

TURKEY 54

SPAIN 50

SINGAPORE 44

RUSSIA 24

The US – whose government has on occasion hindered rather than helped contactless deployment – enjoyed a good business-led push, which enabled it to maintain a spot in the top five. Japan and South Korea also kept their leading positions, thanks to a business-led promotion of contactless both domestically and overseas.

What really helped the UK to elbow its way past major rivals was its role as the host of the 2012 Olympics. This has had a big effect on getting the basics in place ready for a contactless Games. Public transport operator Transport for London (TfL) also played a major role in helping to create the contactless habit. However, whether the UK can retain its high ranking in future years will become clear only after the Olympics has ended and we see how committed public transport operators and businesses are to promoting contactless as the main way to pay for goods and services.

France’s pole position is no surprise given that there has long been strong support for the technology, both from industry organizations and a government keen to help French firms build market share. With a new government due to be voted in later this year and austerity measures kicking in, it will be interesting to see whether – and how – the country’s commitment changes in 2012. It was these reasons that the judges finally awarded the number 1 position for the 2011-12 Country League to France.